Towel cabinet and dispensing mechanism therefor



June 4 F. e. STEINER 2,202,930

TOWEL CABINET AND DISPENSING MECHANISM THEREFOR Filed Feb. 24, 195 6 5Sheets-Sheet 1 5./ 2

5 /o 2 fE'A/V QBSTEINEE ATTO S June 4, 1940.

G. STEINER TOWEL CABINET AND DISPENSING MECHANISM THEREFOR Filed Feb.24, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June4;194o. F.G. TE|NER f 52,202 930 TOWELCABINET AND DISPENSING MECHANISM THEREFOR Filed Feb. 24, 1936 3Sheets-Sheet 3' a mwm Arrmgwsr:

Patented June 4, 1940 TOWEL CABINET AND DISPENSING MECHANISM THEREFORFrank G. Steiner, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Steiner Sales Company, SaltLake City,

ration oi Utah Utah, :1. corpo- Application February 24, 1936, SerialNo. 65,273

12 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in toweling cabinets and toimprovements in apparatus for dispensing toweling, and has among itsobjectsto provide, a towel dispensing mechanism having a stop mechanismcontrolled entirely by manipulation of the toweling, to be moved to andreleased from stop position.

Another object is to so control the toweling that only an amount lessthan is normally needed is allowed to be withdrawn at one time, thusdispensing toweling in shorter lengths than has heretofore been thepractice. This method makes for economy inasmuch as it frequentlyhappens that one only wishes to dry the fingers or the tips of thefingers, and if only a small portion of the clean toweling is available,the person will use that instead of going to the trouble of againmanipulating the toweling to obtain more.

Other objects are: to provide a cabinet having casing sections arrangedto cooperate to define a front towel dispensing opening; to provide abottom casing section which can act as a shelfior holding a roll oftoweling while the cabinet is being serviced; and to provid a bottomcasing section which forms part of the front and bottom of the cabinet.

Another object is to provide a smoothing mechanism including a partwhich is swingable to facilitate access to the take-up roll, and whichcooperates with the bottom section of the cabinet to form a bottom forthe cabinet as well as a support for the toweling supply roll.

Features of the invention include all details of construction, alongwith the broader ideas of means inherent in the disclosure.

Objects, features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description of the drawings forming a part of this application, and

in said drawings Figure l is a front elevation with the cabinet open forservicing; I

Figure 2 is a vertical section on line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section also on line 2-2 of Figure 1, but withthe cabinet serviced and ready to use;

Figure 4 is a vertical section viewed in direction of the arrow fromline l-i of Figure 1, but with the cabinet closed, and showing the stopmechanism positioned as during a dispensing operation, and as near theend of that operation;

Figure 5 is a detail view of the stop mechanism viewed as in Figure 4,showing the position of the parts immediately after release of the towelby the user, with the stop lever in its non-stop position to permit moretoweling to be withdrawn when pulled;

Figure 6 is a detail view of the stop mechanism viewed as in Figure 4,showing the mechanism in stop position, as at the end of a towel pullingoperation but before release of the towel by the user;

Figure '7 is another view of the stop mechanism with the partspositioned as just before kicking of the stop lever to stop position, bythe rapidly moving towel-pull-controlled cam or stop;

Figure 8 is a horizontal section through the stop mechanism taken online 88 of Figure 6; and

Figure 9 is a side view partly in section showing the means for securingthe swinging casing sections in closed position.

Numeral 5 generally designates the main casing section of the cabinet.The cabinet is adapted to be attached to the wall by means, not shown,and the casing has a movable upper casing section 3 which forms a partof the top and front of the cabinet. A movable lower casing section 5forms part of the bottom and front of the cabinet. These casing sectionshave edges which are cooperable to define a horizontally elongated fronttowel dispensing opening or slot The lower end of the upper casingsection 3 is turned upwardly and inwardly as at 8 to provide a smoothedge. The upper edge of the lower casing is formed, as best shown at 10in Figure 3, to provide an outwardly faced slanting surface, theprolongation of which is about tangent with the forward part of pinchroll 3 I, later to be described. The upper portion of this lower casingis turned as at M to provide a smooth surface over which the toweling isdrawn and thus friction is reduced to the minimum. The upper section hastwo arms l2 which are pivoted as at 93 to brackets attached to sides iiiof the casing. The pivotal arrangement is such that the section is heldby gravity in open position, see Figure 1. The lower casing section hasarms H pivoted as at 8 to brackets attached to the sides i5. A featureof the invention is the arrangement of the pivoting means for thesections to adapt the upper section to swing upwardly, as shown inFigure 2, and the lower to swing downwardly to give access for servicingthe cabinet. When the bottom section is swung its arms ll engage lateralextensions 20 of the casing to limit downward movement to such aposition as to form a shelf for a supply roll, while the cabinet isbeing serviced.

The toweling dispensing mechanism of the cabinet is mounted onvertically placed plates 25,

suitably secured as by bolts to the rear wall 26 of the casing. Mountedbetween and supported by these plates is a dispensing mechanismincluding a measuring or feed roll 30 and a pinch roll 3| engageabletherewith and mounted in the usual manner in slots 32. A take-up roll isshown at 33 and the soiled towel roll is shown at 34. The axle ortrunnions of roll 34 moves in usual slots 35 in plates 25 and a bracerod 36 connects the plates as shown. The feed roll 30 and takeup roll 33are geared by the usual chain indicated by dotted lines at 40 in Figure4 to move in unison.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3: another feature of the invention relatesto the arrangement and action of a pivoted plate which forms part ofmeans for smoothing out used toweling before it reaches the take-uproll. Said smoothing means comprises a bracket member having a portionback-turned to provide a smoothing edge 4|. The plate 43 is pivoted asat 44 to depending arms 45 of the plates 25. This plate 43 is thusadapted to swing from an operative smoothing position of Figure 3 to theposition of Figure 2. The pivoting means of the lower casing section andof this plate are so related that when the bottom section 5 is swungoutwardly to form a shelf, and when the plate 43 is swung forwardly, itsbottom edge 46 forms kind of a back stop against which the supply rollengages. The pressure of the supply roll, due to its tendency to moverearwardly down the inclined portion of the section 5, holds the plate43 in its position of Figure 2. The plate 43 is curved as at 48 andprovides smoothing bends 49-56 related, when in smoothing position, tothe smoothing bend 4| in the manner shown in Figure 3.

The plate 43 is adapted to be swung forwardly, as in Figure 2, tofacilitate access to the take-up roll, and when in this position itsupper edge 50 lies at a point intermediately of the rolls 30 and 33. Itis again noted that the weight of the roll acting on the bottom edge 46tends to hold the plate 43 in this position, while the cabinet is beingserviced.

A very important feature of this invention relates to a method forcontrolling or limiting withdrawal of toweling solely either by a pullon the toweling or by manual control such that force applied by the userin dispensing toweling acts to limit or stop towel withdrawal and suchthat the limiting means is released to permit further withdrawal, justas soon as application of such force by the user ceases. There is nointention, therefore, to entirely limit the invention to any particularmethod of feed because feeding control can be accomplished by meansother than a pull on the toweling. However, in

this embodiment, which is also claimed, the stop mechanism is controlledonly by a pull on the toweling and is adapted to be moved to stopposition by a pull and to remain in stop position while pull continues,and is further adapted to be automatically released when the pull on thetoweling ceases.

Referring now principally to Figures 4 and 8 inclusive: One form of stopmechanism, which functions as broadly stated herein, includes what maybe referred to as a cam disk 66, see Figure 1, having a camming portion6|, one end 62 of which acts as a stop. Operatively associated with thiscam is a rock lever 63 pivoted midway of its ends, as at 64, and havingat its upper end a head 65 and at its lower end a head 66 acting as astop. A prolongation of the stop face 62 of the cam 6| passes throughthe center of rotation 67 of the cam disk 60 or slightly to the right ofit.

Secured to the cam disk (or forming an integral part of it) is a disk 68having a wiper and stop finger 69 engageable with a yieldably held stoproll journaled in an arm ll pivoted at 12. Spring 13 urges the armtoward the disk 68 and a stop i4 limits arm movement in reversedirection, see Figure 7. This device acts as a cushion as well as acam-reversing device.

The cam is considered to represent any element to which force is appliedby a pull on the toweling, or to which force is applied duringdispensing. The rock element 63 is so weighted at its bottom by head 66that it moves automatically to non-stop position shown in Figures 5 and7. Any means may be used for moving it to non-stop position.

The rapid rotation of the roll 30 due to withdrawal of the toweling fromthe position shown in Figure 5 causes the cam 6| to engage the head 65and kick the lever 63 to the stop position shown in Figure 6. Justbefore the parts 62- 66 reach the positions of Figure 6, the finger 69engages the roller 10 and moves the lever against the action of itsspring, away from the pin 14, as shown, thus conditioning the yieldablestop, so that on release of force (applied by pull on the toweling) thecam-stop 6| is pushed in counterclockwise direction (or in a directionopposite that in which it moves to stop position) thus automaticallyreleasing the stop lever 63 so that it again assumes the initialposition of Figure 5, in which the apparatus is again conditioned topermit withdrawal of more toweling.

Another feature of the invention is the means by which the amount oftowel withdrawal is so controlled that only an amount less than isnormally needed can be withdrawn at each pulling operation. This controlof the amount is obtained by substantially reducing the diameter of themeasuring roll 3|], however this roll may be controlled. Thisshort-length dispensing scheme is an economy measure which results in asubstantial saving of toweling. It is based on the well-known propensityof the majority of human beings to follow lines of least resistance, andto exert themselves as little as possible (in this case) even to theextent of using a smaller amount of toweling, if they find it necessaryto exert themselves to get a larger amount. Figure 5 shows the stop innormal position (or substantially normal position) and before pull onthe toweling or immediately after release of the toweling. Figure 7shows the parts during application of dispensing force, and Figure 6shows the parts in stop position, and so held by pull on the toweling.

Another feature is that the center of gravity of the supply roll liesinwardly of the pivot 44 of plate 43, so that the weight of the supplyroll tends to hold the plate in operative position, and

further that, as the toweling is unwound, the roll is moved rearwardlyto keep its center of gravity back of the pivot.

In Figure 9 has been shown a device for securing the upper lid or casingsection 3 in closed position. To this end, the upper section 3 isprovided with brackets 60, with which latches 8| pivoted at 82 to thesides l5 engage, as shown in Figure 9. Each latch has a lift-pin 83accessibly projecting through slot 84. The lower casin member 5 is heldin position by having the lower edge of the upper casing member engageit as shown in Fig. 3.

The upper casing member is provided with a pair of pinch roll kick-offbrackets 85, the function of which is to kick the pinch roll from itsupper position at 86, in the slot 32, to its lower position when the toplid is closed. This assures that the pinch roll will be placed in properposi tion. This device is used for the reason that the person whoservices the cabinet often inadvertently leaves the roll in its upperposition so that the mechanism will not operate. The kick-off positionof the bracket 85 is shown in Figure 3.

I claim as my invention:

1. A toweling dispensing cabinet having mechanism for dispensingtoweling including a take-up roll, means within the cabinet forsmoothing the used toweling as it passes toward the take-up rollincluding an element having a'smoothing means portion and having aportion which acts to support a toweling supply roll when the smoothingmeans portion is operatively positioned, and pivoting means for saidelement located below the center of gravity of a supply roll "whenplaced on said supporting portion, whereby the weight of the towelingtends to hold the smoothing means in smoothing position.

2. A toweling dispensing cabinet having mech anism for dispensingtoweling including a takeup roll, said cabinet having a lower sectionforming parts of the front and bottom thereof, pivoting means for saidlower section adapting it to swing to give access for servicing thecabinet, means within the cabinet for smoothing the used toweling as itpasses toward the take-up roll including an element having a smoothingmeans portion and having a portion which cooperates with said lowersection to complete the formation of the bottom of the cabinet, meanspivoting said element to allow it to move to a non-smoothing positionwhich facilitates access to the take-up roll, the pivots for said lowersection and for said element being so related that said lower sectioncan be swung outwardly and downwardly to form a shelf for a towelingsupply roll while the cabinet is being serviced, and said element beingso arranged relatively to said lower section that when said element isswung away from smoothing position a part of it is disposed as a stopagainst which the supply roll on said lower section may engage, and sothat said roll may act by gravity to secure the element in the positionwhich facilitates access to the take-up roll.

3. A cabinet having a mechanism for dispensing'toweling, said cabinethaving a lower section forming part of the front and bottom thereof,pivoting means for said lower section adapting it to swing downwardly togive access for servicing the cabinet, said pivoting means comprising apair of arcuate brackets each fixed at one end to said lower section andpivoted by the opposite end to the cabinet, and means on the cabinet atthe bottom thereof with which the concave sides of said arcuate bracketsengage to limit downward swinging of the lower section to dispose thesame as a shelf for supporting a supply roll of clean toweling while thecabinet is being serviced.

4. In a towel cabinet, the combination with a roll which is forciblymoved by the user for dispensing toweling, a member movable by said rolland providing a first stop shoulder, a rock element providing a secondstop shoulder adapted to be moved into the path of the first shoulderwhen said element is moved and adapted to be engaged by the firstshoulder as the member con- 3 overlap and tinues to move, said rockelement being held in stop position by the forced action of the firststop on the second, initial engagement of the member with the rockelement moving the rock element to stop position, said rock elementhaving means to automatically move it to non-stop position.

5. A device of the class described comprising a roll which is forciblymoved for dispensing, and having a first stop, a second stop, rockableinto stopping relation with the first stop and automatically movableaway from that position, and means rotated by the roll for rocking thesecond stop into the path of the first, the first stop being adapted tohold the second in stop position only as long as force continues to beapplied to the roll.

6. A device of the class described comprising a roll, a disc on the rollhaving a peripheral lug one end of which acts as a stop, a rockingelement having a stop normally out of the path of the lug, said lugbeing engageable with said rocking element to move it to bring its stopinto stopping position, said lug engaging the stop of theroc kingelement to retain the latter in stop position until rotative force onthe roll ceases, and means causing said rocking element to automaticallymove away from stopping position when the application of force on theroll ceases.

7. A towel dispensing mechanism having a roll which is forcibly rotatedwhen the towel is fed, a stop mechanism for the roll including a pivotedstop normally gravity-held in non-stop position, means operated by theroll for kicking the stop element to stop position against the action ofgravity, said means having a stop shoulder into the path of which thepivoted stop moves when kicked, the engaged relation of the stops beingsuch as to prevent gravity release of the pivotal stop as long as rotaryforce on the roll continues.

8. In a commodity dispensing apparatus, a member forcibly moved duringdispensing and having a first stop shoulder, a pivoted rockable elementhaving a shoulder at one side of its pivot adapted to be moved into thepath of the first shoulder and to be engaged thereby, when the pivotedelement is rocked, and means movable with the member for engaging therockable element at theopposite side of its pivot and moving saidelement to cause said shoulders to be engaged, the said rockable elementbeing thereafter held in shoulder-engaged position while application offorce to said member is continued, and means for automatically movingsaid rockable element to disengage the shoulders when the application offorce to said member ceases.

9. A towel dispensing cabinet having towel dispensing means and soiledtoweling takeup means, each including a roller, said rollers beingspaced apart in a direction transverse to their axes, a member forsupporting a toweling supply roll and having means cooperative with apart on the cabinet for smoothing the soiled toweling on its, way to thetakeup roll, means pivoting said member to move independently of saiddispensing and soiled toweling takeup means, said member being movableaway from said part and from a wall of the cabinet to increase the spaceto facilitate passage of the toweling toward the takeup means forconnection therewith, and a second independently pivoted member adaptedto cooperate with the first member to complete the formation of thebottom of the cabinet and to form a front wall of the cabinet, anddisposed to swing to a level below the first mentioned member and tosupport a supply roll with one side against the first member to hold thesame in said spaced relation, and said first member having a portionwhich, when the member is'moved to the limit of its spaced position, isdisposed to prevent accidental passage of the toweling between saidrollers, as it is pushed by the operators fingers through said increasedspace, to be connected with the soiled towel takeup roll.

10. A towel dispensing cabinet having a soiled towel takeup means, amember having a soiled towel smoothing portion and a clean towelsupporting portion, means mounting said member for motion independentlyof said takeup means and so that only the gravity action of the cleantoweling on said supporting portion holds said smoothing portion insmoothing position.

11. A towel dispensing cabinet having towel dispensing means, and asoiled towel takeup means, a member having a clean towel supportingportion and a soiled towel smoothing portion cooperative with the parton the cabinet for smoothing the soiled toweling on its way to thetakeup roll, means pivoting said member to move independently of saiddispensing and soiled towel takeup means, and so that only the gravityaction of the clean towel on said supporting portion holds saidsmoothing means portion against the towel and in cooperative relationwith said part on the cabinet.

12. A towel dispensing cabinet having towel dispensing means, soiledtowel takeup means, a member for supporting a towel supply roll andhaving means cooperable with a part on the cabinet for smoothing thesoiled towel on its way to the takeup means, means pivoting said memberto move independently of said dispensing means and soiled towel takeupmeans, said member being movable away from said part and from a wall ofthe cabinet to provide space to facilitate passage of the soiled toweltoward the takeup means, said dispensing and takeup means including tworolls which are spaced apart, and said member having a portion which,when said member is moved to facilitate passage of the towel, lies insuch spaced relation to the spaced rolls as to prevent passage of thesoiled toweling therebetween after the towel has been passed throughsaid space.

FRANK G. STEINER.

